CBP Officers at Port of Lukeville Seize $571K of Meth

TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Arizona’s Port of Lukeville on Wednesday arrested a Mexican man after seizing more than 190 pounds of methamphetamine.

Officers referred a 44-year-old Caborca, Sonora, Mexico, man for a secondary inspection of his Ford SUV as he applied to enter the United States from Mexico Wednesday morning. A CBP canine alerted to an odor it is trained to detect, leading officers to the discovery of more than 170 packages of meth within the vehicle’s rear floorboard, worth an estimated value of almost $571,000.

Officers discovered more than 170packages of meth within the floorboardof a smuggling vehicle

The seizure comes four days after Lukeville Port officers seized 28 pounds of meth from a vehicle driven by a 19-year-old Phoenix woman. The woman attempted to hide the drugs within the rear quarter panels of her Nissan sedan.

Officers arrested the subject and turned him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, while the drugs and the vehicle were seized.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with securing the borders of the United States while enforcing hundreds of laws and facilitating lawful trade and travel.